Hutchinson County

Hutchinson County, in the north central section of the Panhandle, is bounded on the north by Hansford County, on the east by Roberts County, on the south by Carson County, and on the West by Moore County. The county center is at approximately 35°50' north latitude and 101°20' west longitude. The county was named for pioneer jurist Anderson Hutchinson. It comprises 871 square miles of plains and broken terrain; altitudes range from 2,750 to 3,400 feet above sea level. Hutchinson County receives an average annual rainfall of 19.9 inches. The average minimum temperature is 22° F in January, and the average maximum is 93° in July; the growing season averages 187 days. The Canadian River, fed by several small creeks, angles across the county from southwest to northeast; in the southwest it is dammed to form Lake Meredith. Broken land along the river and its tributaries forms fertile valleys. The northern part of the county is high rolling plain. About $15 million average annual income in the county is derived from wheat, corn, alfalfa, and grain sorghums. Beef cattle, hogs, and poultry are also raised there, and irrigated land amounts to more than 40,000 acres. Since the 1920s, however, petroleum has been the chief industry; the southern part of Hutchinson County is the center of oil, gas, petrochemical, and synthetic-rubber production in the Panhandle. In the county is one of the world's largest pump stations for natural gas, which supplies metropolitan areas west to Denver and east to Indianapolis. State highways 236, 152, and 207 merge at Borger, and several farm and ranch roads provide access to outlying communities.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.